Trade Secret Law - Spring 2018Professor Elizabeth Rowe

Law # 6930(Section 1298)

2 Credits

Required Text

The required text for this course is Rowe and Sandeen, Cases and Materials on Trade Secret Law (Second Edition). For additional reference, you may also consult our Trade Secret Law in a Nutshell 2d Edition, but this is not required. Other handouts or materials may be assigned during the semester. You may access supplemental materials and view other course related information on the course TWEN® page. You are required to register on TWEN® by the end of the drop/add period for the semester

Classes

Classes will be held on Mondays and Tuesdaysfrom 11:00-11:50a.m. in Room 270. The final exam is tentatively scheduled for April 27th.

Office Hours

My office hours are on Tuesdaysfrom1:00p.m.-2:00p.m. While you should feel free to stop by without an appointment during office hours, I highly recommend that you make an appointment to reserve the amount of time that you need, and eliminate wait time. If you are unable to meet with me during my regularly scheduled office hours please send me an e-mail and I’ll be happy to arrange another mutually convenient time.

Contact Information

My office is in Room 312E and the telephone number is (352) 273-0927. My e-mail address is . I strongly encourage you to contact me regularly during the semester and to ask any questions that you may have about the course or even more generally about the practice of law.

Course Description

This course addresses the law and theory applicable to the protection of confidential and proprietary business information ranging from formulas to customer lists. It includes coverage of trade secret protection and misappropriation in the employment context, such as issues regarding confidentiality and non-competition agreements, and the inevitable disclosure doctrine. Litigation strategies in trade secret misappropriation cases, as well as procedures and requirements for preserving trade secret protection are also covered. Finally, the course touches on relevant comparisons between trade secret law and other forms of intellectual property protection, such as patent law. The specific topics to be covered are listed in the assignment chart provided at the end of this syllabus.

Learning Outcomes

By the end of this course students will be able to:

  • Explain rationales for trade secrecy
  • Explain eligibility for trade secret protection
  • Describe the reasonable efforts requirement
  • Describe unique aspects of trade secret litigation
  • Explain misappropriation

Class Preparation, Participation, and Attendance

  1. Class Preparationand Participation

Preparation for class is mandatory.Before each class you must complete the assigned reading and be prepared to provide thoughtful answers to questions that I pose during class. (Do not substitute commercial study aids for my assignments.)

Note that ABA Standard 310 requires that students devote 2 hours of out-of-class preparation for every “classroom hour” of in-class instruction. Therefore, for this 3 credit course, I expect that you will spend at least 6 hours of preparation outside of class each week. This should include very careful and thorough reading and preparation of assignments prior to each class, as well as review of your notes and class materials after each class session.

I expect you to participate meaningfully, professionally, and effectively in this course. Exceptionally strong participation may lead to an adjustment of your grade by up to 1 letter grade (i.e. from a B to an A).Conversely, those who are consistently unprepared and/or who do not participate meaningfully and professionally in class could suffer a deduction of up to one letter grade. My assessment of the strength of your participation in the course includes, but is not limited to, such factors as the quality of classroom comments, the amount of interest demonstrated in the subject, degree of preparation for class and willingness to respond to questions, demonstration of active engagement of the material via application to contemporaneous events, class attendance, disruptive, distracting, or unprofessional behavior in the classroom, and observance of course policies.

Please note that while I encourage the free exchange of ideas and opinions in class, expressions of disagreement must be made in a professional manner that is respectful of your classmates.

Conducting yourselves in a professional manner also means not engaging in any behavior during class that may distract me or your classmates. This includes, but is not limited to, playing computer games, surfing the web, sending e-mails, and any other use of your computers during class that does not involve note taking. Your failure to comply with this policy may be subject to the grade deduction for participation described above, your removal from the classroom, and/or loss of your privilege to use a laptop in the classroom.

  1. Class Attendance[1]

Attendance is mandatory and you are expected to be on time. You must be punctual to class; habitual lateness may result in a grade deduction.It is your responsibility to locate and initial the sign-in sheet for each class session. By signing your initials you affirm that you are physically present in class during that class period. It will be considered a violation of the course rules and the Honor Code to falsely indicate that you were present in class, or to assist a classmate in such misrepresentation.

If you have six (6) or more absences[2], you will be barred from taking the final exam, and will automatically fail this course. Four (4) to five (5) absences may result in a reduction of your grade as described above in the section describing grade adjustments for course participation.

Policy related to Make-up exams or other work

The law school policy on delay in taking exams can be found at:

University Policy on Accommodating Students with Disabilities: Students requesting accommodation for disabilities must first register with the Dean of Students Office ( The Dean of Students Office will provide documentation to the student who must then provide this documentation to Student Affairs (Dean Rachel Inman) when requesting accommodation. You must submit this documentation prior to submitting assignments or taking the quizzes or exams. Accommodations are not retroactive, therefore, students should contact the office as soon as possible in the term for which they are seeking accommodations.

University Policy on Academic Misconduct: Academic honesty and integrity are fundamental values of the University community. Students should be sure that they understand the UF Student Honor Code at

Grading

Your final course grade will be based principally on a two hour in-class final examination, and will be subject to modification based upon course participation and attendance as described above.

After course grades have been posted, you may review your exam beginning after the first week of the following semester and during a specified period. All exam reviews will be conducted in my office, and you may arrange an appointment by e-mail.

Thelaw school grading policy is available at:

Letter Grade / Point Equivalent
A (Excellent) / 4.0
A- / 3.67
B+ / 3.33
B / 3.0
B- / 2.67
C+ / 2.33
C (Satisfactory) / 2.0
C- / 1.67
D+ / 1.33
D (Poor) / 1.0
D- / 0.67
E (Failure) / 0.0
Recording Devices and Cell Phones

Use of any recording devices (including audio and/or video) is not permitted in the classroomwithout my express permission. Cellular telephones should not be used during class, and ringers must be silenced.

Student Course Evaluations

Students can provide feedback on the quality of instruction in this course by completing online evaluations at Evaluations are typically open during the last two or three weeks of the semester, but students will receive notice of the specific times when they are open. Summary results of these assessments are available to students at

Assignments

Below are the reading assignments for the first fiveweeks of the course.I reserve the right to modify the assignments from time to time, and to utilize additional handouts and materials. All assignments are from the required text unless otherwise noted. Where problems are included in the assignment, be prepared to discuss them in class. On occasion, however, time may not permit such discussion. Your review and preparation of the problems will nevertheless be a helpful exercise.

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[1]Only students who are registered in the course are permitted to attend class. Guests are not permitted without my express consent.

[2]University recognized religious holidays are exempt. Please provide me with advance notification of such absences.